What is Equine Hoarding and Can ‘motivational Interviewing’ Training Be Implemented to Help Enable Behavioural Change in Animal Owners?

SummaryAnimal hoarding is one of the most complex, costly and difficult to manage animal welfare issues, but it is poorly understood and little researched. In addition to the considerable welfare issues and animal suffering, animal hoarding has a significant impact on the humans involved, as well as their communities and the environment. The hoarding of equines is not uncommon, but it is not specifically recognised or addressed in the published literature. There is also very little information published about any interventions that can be successful with those who are, or are at risk of, animal hoarding. One intervention that has been briefly mentioned is Motivational Interviewing, a well‐researched and evidenced intervention used across a range of difficult to change human health behaviours, including substance misuse and other addictions. This paper describes the evaluation of motivational interview training which was delivered after a preliminary exploration of equine welfare officers’ experiences of complex multi‐horse cases which confirmed that equine hoarding occurs. The training taught motivational interviewing skills and theory to equine welfare officers, in order for them to be able to use this approach during their general duties as well as more specifically in equine hoarding cases. The findings indicate that, for many equine welfare workers these skills can be beneficially applied to their caseload and can have good outcomes in the most difficult of areas, that of equine hoarding.